With the start of elementary, junior high and high schools just around the corner, the Utah County Health Department is encouraging parents to get their students' immunized now.
State law requires parents to show proof that their students as young as kindergarten have received their DTP, polio, MMR, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B and chickenpox vaccines. Seventh grade students are required to have a Tdap booster shot, regardless of when they were given their last tetanus/diphtheria vaccine.
The full list of vaccination requirements can be found on the immunization program website. The site also informs parents that they may obtain an immunization exception form for those who do not wish to have the vaccinations for medical, religious or personal reasons. The health department strongly urges receiving the vaccines, however, and sooner rather than later.
'Our clinic at the health department gets really crazy toward the end of July as everyone rushes to get immunizations completed,' said Pauline Hartvigsen, Utah County Health Department immunization bureau director. 'By coming in early, you not only can beat that rush, but also have the chance to fill in the gaps if you have an immunization that must be given in a series of shots spread out over time.'